I don't want to be too specific, and exhibit a person or a club, so I have chosen to modify the facts slightly, to keep the involved parties uninvolved.
I was recently asked to make a banner for a Nordic show event for a certain kind of pet. In this case we will say it was a dog show. One of my suggestions was a dog wearing a viking uniform, as it is a Nordic show and I imagined that Vikings was one of the common denominators.
The club was thrilled, and they used the banner to invite members from multiple Scandinavian countries. I got several positive replies and comments from multiple members saying that they thought the image was really cute!
Some time later, the Swedish delegation protested, saying that they could not publish the invitation banner to their members, because viking helmets with horns were a symbol of right wing extremists and that they represented Nazis.
Initially I thought that this was a joke, but i don't want to judge before knowing if this indeed is the case in Sweden. Do people look at horned viking helmets and think "Nazi" instead of "Viking"?
And yes - this is made with AI. Love it or hate it, it makes for very affordable illustrations for clubs and groups that have no money and make no money
This is not true at all. We are not offended by hornd helmets. Just Google "Swedish viking merch" and your find plenty of "junk"๐. Or look at any international (specially hockey) game. Swedes are dressy in blue, yellow and toy helmet whit horns and braids.
But it so true that some right wing groups trying to use viking as symbols, especially the "Tyr" rune.
I agree - this is the same here in Denmark. I did check online, but would not want to make the same mistakes as others did, if indeed this was a mistake. It would seem from this thread that the general attitude is more or less neutral towards viking helmets with horns
I think we have the same idea in the whole of Scandinavia, helmets whit horns are a novelty but Vikings are cool and we are proud of our heritage. The one whom told you we get offended may have hated a bad experience personally.